HellFire gehenna tou pyros
by imaginationroxmysox
Summary: Jake brings his partner to the island to meet his family at a reunion. Something there is haunting the Long family and is intereted in Jake especially. What if it's not a friend? What if it wants his life? Rated T for language. Part of "It's Time' series.
1. Series Info

It didn't take long before I could sense it following us, I stopped and grabbed Jake's arm when I heard heavy breathing directly behind my head and a hateful whisper in my ear. He spun around but saw nothing, I was clutching to his arm desperately and was scared out of my mind. I was almost on the verge of tears,

"What did it say?" he asked grabbing onto my shoulders, get a hold of yourself!

"It's after something... it said... I don't know... gehenna tou pyros?" I stuttered, a flash of confusion and frustration flooded his face,

"Whats that suppose to mean?!" He almost yelled, as if his question was being answered a blood chilling scream drifted from the beach. Other small cries and screams followed. Instinctively, we morphed into our dragon forms and ran full till up the path.

We were the first at the scene. A girl a few years older than Haley was screaming and pointing towards the ocean,

"Joice, whats wrong?!" Jake demanded...

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Intro

** Please _**don't**_ skip this story because there's an OC in the story, that's not fair. Rose is in the story if that helps at all. It's a pretty cool plot (**I** think) and I think that you'd like it if you gave it a shot. Pretend Danika's Rose if you want! (though it would be weird in chapter 8, Lol)

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This story follows the **'It's Time'** series so if you haven't read the first story (It's Time... [too obvious?]) I recommend you read it to get a full understanding of the story and the characters. If you want to carry on and just read this story I should fill you in on some details... a prologue so to speak.

Jake could see ghosts ever since he got his dragon powers, a few months after he first started training a mysterious ghost approaches him and leads him to Canada. There he meets a dragon who was taken by an imfamous and reckless dragon trainer, her memory was wiped so that all she could practically remember was her first name (Danika) and month of birth (July [aren't I generous? :D]). They soon remember things about their past lives and he realizes that Danika is his partner from centuries ago and were killed by Jake's father the Dark Dragon.

They have a prophecy as a pair called the 'Celestial Dragon' (for special reasons ;)) and must kill the Dark Dragon before he kills them again. Jake is soon tracked down and they fight the Dark Dragon (NOT GIVING AWAY THE ENDING!). Danika is given the option to take a potion on behalf of the Dragon Council to regain her memory of her current life but it doesn't work.

Danika is currently living in the Long household and is starting a relationship with Jake [isn't there always a relationship in these stories XD]. It's now August and they're going to visit Jake's family for a annual get-together.

Enjoy!  
Imaginationroxmysox


	2. Figure and the shadows

**Thank you to those who decided to read the actual first chapter of the story, it's appreciated :). Enjoy!**

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Jake's POV

That time of year again, time to go visit family. Last year started out as a disaster, turned out OK though. This year will be better because Danika's coming to meet my family, she's never been to Florida before so that'll be fun for her at least. Danika and I were in the shoe room 2.0 (her room) and I was helping her pick out clothes to bring on the trip.

"Cheer up, Jake. Visiting family isn't that bad." She persuaded, _You haven't met my family_

"It's just... they're super weird and it's really boring over there, it'll get old really soon trust me." She turned her back to me and I could feel her mood change and become more sullen, family was a soft topic for her which I felt bad about. Mom treated her like family and they were very close, even Haley took warmly to her, she looked up to her like a sister.  
Mom and Haley tried but I guess you can't fill the gap of your own mom and sister, dad was nice to everyone so naturally he would try to form a relationship but she didn't seem comfortable around him yet.

I got off the bed and walked next to her, I was at a loss of words, _what do you say at a time like this?! _Sensing my awkwardness, she turned to me with a smirk on her face

"I don't trust anyone who says 'trust me'" she laughed, I smiled back grateful that the 'moment' was over.

"Good thing we're partners then" I replied sarcastically, "I'm gonna go upstairs and pack my bags." She gave a nod and I turned towards the door, mom and dad were arguing on the other side.

"He doesn't know, eh?" She asked now aware of the dispute in the kitchen, "About us, Haley, Gramps?" _didn't she know?!_

"No one told you?!" I asked completely shocked that I had never warned her, _she's lived with us for a couple of months now and I never warned her of the magically ignorant human in the house?_

"No. I kinda assumed... I don't know! You guys don't talk about it so I figured..." She stumbled

"Well, he doesn't know. You see, mom's been working on telling him... since they graduated." I explained

"Oh. Didn't you say that your cousin and some other relatives were dragons too?" She inquired

"Ya but we try to have dad join the 'party' later so that everyone doesn't have to be on their guard all the time." I clarified.

"Well from the sound of it, Jonathan isn't going anywhere." She was right, dad was telling mom how he had to stay to work on a big project for the boss. I said goodbye again and walked out the door, the door led right in to the kitchen so I was pretty much an intrusion. _The family won't be too upset if he doesn't come._

Danika's POV

We got off the plane at Key West International Airport around 3:30pm the next day, turns out I have a fear of flying in air planes and get motion sickness, _good thing God gave me wings. _Gramps, Susan, Haley, Fu, Jake and I sat at a group of benches outside the small cafe attached to the side of the actual airport and ate lunch.

"So, guys. We're here and the island is around over here..." Fu stretched out a small piece of paper that changed size and shape and even zoomed in and out! _It's like Google maps to go!_ He pointes out our location on the island and slid his paw over to a cluster of islands around 25km away. "... Were gonna take a cab over here to Fort Zachary and you guys are gonna fly the rest of the way." he planned. _I didn't mind flying, I loved it infact but I didn't really like company._

After lunch we headed over to Fort Zachary and got ready to take off. Gramps would carry Fu, Jake carried Susan and I would carry Haley (she wasn't much of a flyer like her brother). It didn't take us long to get in the air with all our baggages, which were surprisingly light considering.

"I bet you 10 bucks that I can get there faster!" Jake stated confidently,

"I don't want to embarrass you in front of your family" I retorted, Jake gave an evil smile and held out his hand,

"You're on!" we shook hands and took off.

About half an hour into the flight I started to get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, I stopped and looked over at Gramps who wasn't far behind. Jake stopped and turned to face me,

"What is it?" he called out, there was a rumbling below the water and a dark, round shape was visible just below me, we watched in silence as it swam in circles

"Is it some kind of whale?" Haley asked quietly behind me, obviously not wanting to be called out on not knowing what the figure was

"That's no whale. Get off, I'm going to check it out" she transformed and flew over to gramps. I nosedived and stopped myself a few inches from the surface, the figure stopped moving and another rumbling sound was heard below. I heard Jake growling behind me (probably unaware of himself)

"Be careful!" He growled, I useed my dragon vision to see clearly. It looked like an oil patch but it was a thin and light film and it moved deliberately. A smoky hand creeped out from the surface of the water, _a mirage?_ I was so mesmerized that I didn't see the hude tidal wave creep up on me, I heard a high pitched screech and I became aware of my surroundings in time to rise above the wave. I turned towards the others,

"Thanks, Jake. I was almost chum." He nodded and turned, signaling it was time we left. Haley flew over and clung onto the scales on my back.

"That was close!" she whispered shakily

"I know" I whispered back, just as shocked

Jake's POV

Danika was leaning in closer to the surface, entranced by what she saw. I wanted to go down and see what it was too but it was too dangerous with mom. Something caught my eye to my right,_ it's Claws ...er... Grace, mom?_

_"Get her away from there!Now!"_ she was mad, _at Danika?_

I let out a strained, panicked, high-pitched screech. It caught her attention immediately and she retreated before a huge wave crashed down,

"Thanks, Jake. I was almost chum." Gramps was confused, It must have been too high pitched because neither Gramps, Fu, Haley nor mom heard it. I nodded and turned towards where the island would be.

We arrived at the island within the hour, we landed on the beach and stretched a bit before morphing back into our human forms, Danika trotted over.

"What was that all about?" she whispered roughly, she looked a bit spooked and I could tell that she had a different side to what happened than what I saw.

"I'll explain later" I whispered back. I threw my arm around her waist and led her up the steps to meet the family, she stopped dead in her tracks,

"What's wrong?" she was staring at the forest line next to the house. I dropped my arm and scanned the trees, there was a freaky shadow lingering around a tree. _It's trying to hide from us... or is playing games._ I don't get spooked easily but this was something else.

"I guess meeting the family will have to wait." I said to her, she was freaked out. I'm use to seeing ghosts and stuff like that, her not so much. I morphed and ran towards the trees, dutifully she followed my lead. The shadow thing ran away at our approach.

"This thing's playing with us!" Danika yelled from my left flank, the thing moved swiftly but not like a human or anything natural. It almost looked like a DVD was skipping and the shape smudged the air as it moved. I saw the trees start to disperse ahead of us, _there's a clearing up ahead, we'll get him there._ Just before the trees stopped the figure vanished, _That's annoying._

"We just followed a demon!" she stated dumbfoundedly, _a demon most-likely, ghosts were human. This was not a human._

"C'mon, lets go eat." I said, I couldn't help but look back at the spot were the demon/shadow thing disappeared._ I'll have to come back to it later._


	3. The First Shoe Dropped

Jake's POV

We walked up the path to the patio door leading into the kitchen, _they've probably already started eating._ I wasn't the family favorite to say the least and I was definetly not the family hero, that was Greggy's job. Greggy was a year younger than I was and had gotten his dragon powers about a month ago, he thinks he's too good for instruction and aunt Cathy wasn't helping.

We walked through the kitchen door to find the little kids had already started eating, as we walked past Haley grabbed my arm and pulled me down so she could be heard over the screaming kid moshpit,

"Where were you guys?! They already started eating. You guys were late so Greggy took your spot, you'll have to eat here with us." she informed me regrettingly. She didn't like Greggy either, he was stuck up and just an overall weirdo.

"That's a load and a half." I tried to keep the language rated G, " I'll just go introduce Danika to the family and see what's going on, thanks." Haley shrugged and returned to her kiddie meal that aunt Cathy always made for the younger ones.

We walked in to the dinning room, the conversation stopped when everyone saw us walking in 20 minutes late. I shifted under their gaze and Danika retreated a little, I waved to them awkwardly.

"Hey, guys. Where have you been?" Fu called out to the other side of the table, next to him was Gramps and mom. Greggy sat across from them with a big ugly smirk plastered on his face (I never liked Greggy), I failed to come up with a reasonable explanation for why we were so late.

"Sorry. Jake was telling me about the view the other day and I just had to see it the second we got here, hope I didn't inconvenience anyone." she gave a charming smile, I think it's like a reflex for girls or something. The party was easily won over by her played charm.

Aunt Cathy stood up and greeted us curtly, she dragged Danika around the table and introduced her to every member of the family. She finally ushered her to sit down next to Greggy who immediately took interest to her, too much interest for comfort (mine specifically). Aunt Cathy turned to me and tried to lead me to the kids table but I would have none of it,

"Why can't I sit here with everyone else? Move Greggy to the kids table, he's younger." I protested while trying to hold my dignity. Aunt Cathy wouldn't budge,

"Gregory just got his dragon powers, very impressive form. He's an honorary guest for tonights' supper." my great uncle chimed in.

"So? He's had them for like a month now, I've had mine for about 6 months. I think the novelty has worn off." I retorted, _why is she doing this right now?! _I eventually lost the fight and was sent to the kiddy table to eat the instant mash potatoes and chicken fingers, Haley looked relieved that someone sane was with her.

"You know they're going to tear her apart out there, right? They're not gonna take to kindly that she's a French-Canadian, orphaned dragon who lives with her boyfriend." she whispered, the younger kids didn't notice the new blood yet so we didn't want to get them excited.

"She's french?! How do you know?" I asked astounded, why has she never told me?

"She swore in french a couple of times and... I don't know... she has an accent." Haley told me, nibbling on an overcooked chicken finger. She doesn't have an accent! A Canadian accent maybe but... holy crap, she's right! (a/n not saying that we [Canadians] have accents. I meant that we don't really compared to americans so her accent would be french.)

We ate with diffuculty as the younger ones threw food across the table and stuffed potatoes down each others pants and shirts, at times like these I was glad that my little sister was a goody-goody. We always stuck together at these family get-togethers

Danika's POV

That was the most awkward supper ever! Questions flew left and right, I couldnt answer all of them. This family likes asking the wrong questions, maybe on purpose.

"So where are you from?" an older woman asked me, I forgot her name.

"Canada" I replied honestly, _I think_. A couple of the family members stared at me disapointingly, _wrong answer?_

"So, Danika. Tell us about your family, what do your parents do?" Cathy asked, Susan shot her a dirty look when she saw my troubled expression.

"Uhh, I-I don't really have a family. Th-that I know of" I stuttered uncomortably,_ did they not get the memo?_ Gramps watched me intently.

"How can you not have a family?! Everyone has a family." Gregory squealed, the family looked at me expectantly. _I wish Jake was here!_ I gave Gramps a distressed look that practically screamed 'help!' and he jumped in.

"Danika doesn't remember, she lost her memory a couple of months ago. We're working on a potion to help her regain them." he explained with a note of 'this conversation is over'. I sent a relieved smile his way to which he returned with a nod.

"So, how long have you had your dragon powers now?" an old man around G's age asked (the one who spoke to Jake about Gregory's dragon form)

"About two months-ish from what I can remember." I replied more light heartedly

"Do you find it very hard? Have you started your field work yet?" he seemed genuinely interested, _do they not know who we are? Did no one tell them what we've accomplished not a month ago? How could you be oblivious to the fact the Dark Dragon's dead?_

"It's a bit challenging at times, I started field work before I met Lao Shi, Fu and Jake so it was easier to catch up."

The rest of supper was awkward, Gregory wouldn't shut up about stuff he did or something like that (I didn't pay too much attention), I think he was coming on to me... eww.

After supper, I met up with Jake and Haley who were sitting on the beach supervising the younger kids. Jake was lying on his back and Haley was burying him, she motioned me over when I approached and Jake looked over from under the sandhill.

"You'll get indigestion if you lie down after a meal." I informed him jokingly, he shrugged but sat up anyway. Haley protested but Jake ignored her,

"I think we should go for a walk." meaning go a search for that demon thing, a cold shiver crossed my spine despite the heat,

"Can I go too?" Haley whined, Jake considered it for a minute.

"Sorry, sis. Maybe next time, or better yet when we get back. Cool?" Jake promised, Haley nodded reluctantly. We turned towards the forest and followed a worn down path,

"How was supper?" Jake asked tightly,

"It was weird. I don't think they like me." I told him,

"They probably do, they're just a bunch of weirdo's" he tried to joke, didn't work though.

It didn't take long before I could sense it following us, I stopped and grabbed Jake's arm when I heard heavy breathing directly behind my head and a hateful whisper in my ear. He spun around but saw nothing, I was clutching to his arm desperately and was scared out of my mind. I was almost on the verge of tears,

"What did it say?" he asked grabbing onto my shoulders, _get a hold of yourself!_

"It's after something... it said... I don't know... gehenna tou pyros?" I stuttered, a flash of confusion and frustration flooded his face,

"Whats that suppose to mean?!" He almost yelled, as if his question was being answered a blood chilling scream drifted from the beach. Other small cries and screams followed. Instinctively, we morphed into our dragon forms and ran full till up the path.

We were the first at the scene. A girl a few years older than Haley was screaming and pointing towards the ocean,

"Joice, whats wrong?!" Jake demanded, she was flustered and stuggled to form the words,

"Where's Andrew?!" Jake flew overhead and dove into the ocean a few metres from the shore, I looked back to make sure the adults were on their way down before turning to Haley.

"Haley, make sure everyone stays out of the water and tell Gramps whats happening." I rushed, I flew overhead and saw Jake's figure gliding through the water. To his left was a tiny flash of neon orange, _Andrew! _I flew down and swooped up the child with my tail, he was crying and clutched onto me for dear life. I flew him back to land where his mother was hysterically screaming for her child, Susan was standing next to Haley and was also very anxious, _where is Jake?_

Gramps was in the air above me,

"Where's Jake?" he asked hurriedly, I spun around and headed to where I could feel his energy (coupled dragons can sense each other's energies). I flew overhead but he was no where in sight, I flew out a while from the beach but couldn't find him. I grew anxious and I could tell Gramps was really uneasy,

"Danika!" he called out, I turned around and he was pointing to the beach. Jake was crawling onto the beach, still in dragon form, and Susan was running out to hug him. I flew back and landed a few feet from him,

"Where were you?!" I asked bewilered, he turned around and gave me a confused look,

"Looking for you!" He looked as though I was the one who almost got swept out to sea, I gave him a confused look. Andrew was coughing violently as his family crowded around him. _This demon thing might be more of a threat than we anticipated, but why would it mess with Andrew? What's its next move?_


	4. A New Intention A New Game

Yo yo yo-yo (that was a cool toy). I'm not sure if this was an issue in the previous chapters but there is minor cussing, I don't drop F-bombs or anything crazy like that but I do put in stuff like hell and shit, that's it. I find that it adds to their mood, I don't keep a completely clean vocabulary when I'm scared or mad and there aren't a lot of teenagers that don't use a little coarse language. If it does bug you though let me know.

Also, can anyone please explain to me the point of a disclaimer?! I do not see the point! If I did own ADJL (which I don't) I wouldn't be here! The only thing I do own is my character and my stories and versions (can I even say that?!). It's like saying "Oranges are orange" at the beginning of every story, you'd be like "WTF, I know that!" right? NO DUUH, YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T OWN THIS SHOW!

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Jake's POV

Yesterday was messed up. I woke up with a huge headache, I shared the room with three other cousins, Gramps, and Fu so neither of us got much sleep. I walked over my cousin who was sleeping awkwardly on the floor and snuck out of the room to the kitchen. Gramps was sitting at the table with Danika and Fu, she looked like crap and was finishing off a mug of coffee,

"I'll have some." I said walking into the kitchen, she nodded towards the coffee maker and winked at me jokingly. I made myself a cup and sat beside her at the rounded breakfast table,

"You shouldn't be drinking coffee, you're just a kid. It'll stunt your growth." Fu said matter of factly , I stared at him over the rim of the cup as I took a sip,

"So? You shouldn't be talking, you're a dog." Danika replied matter of factly to the Sharpey, I chuckled and Fu gave her a mock-angered face.

After two mugs of coffee I felt ready to start another day on the island, ready to catch that demon thing. _Aunt Cathy kept a net a few feet from the swimming beach to prevent jelly fish and sharks from injuring someone... or anyone from getting swept away by the tide. There's no way Andrew could have gotten out there by himself_. I got up and stretched, Danika was just finishing off her mug so I tipped the end up jokingly and she jabbed me in the ribs.

"Chug, chug, chug." I chanted, she got up and wiped the coffee that I managed to spill. I grimaced at the spilled liquid, she reached to wipe it on my white T-shirt jokingly but I dodged it.

"OK, children. Playtime is over, let's get some training in before it gets too hot or the coffee wears off." Fu intervened

We had training on the beach, we were going to finish with a couple sparring matches. Greggy walked down the path,

"What'cha doin?" He asked Danika, she glanced at me,

"We're training. We're going to spar" she explained, Greggy walked up to and awkwardly morphed into his dragon form,

"Can I join?" it was more than obvious that he wanted to show off, the elders were sitting in the shade watching and my uncle started chatting about how Gregory's dragon form was 'impressive' and how he would've also make a good American dragon. Danika was looking at me, waiting for my answer.

"Uhhh, sure. You can spar with her first, then you can take me on if you're up to it." I smiled. If they fought, Greggy would get whats coming and Danika would get some brownie points with the family. Danika morphed and got in position to fight, this is gonna be funny.

They started sparring and it was obvious who'd win, but I couldn't shake this feeling growing at the base of my skull. _What does gehenna tou pyros mean?_ I soon recognized the feeling that was growing out of control, _someone's watching me_. I stood there silently monitoring the sensation and the energy around it,_ I** could **turn around and chase it right now but how could you catch a ghost?! _I heard hooves stomping behind me, running directly at me! I jumped up and turned to the sound. It was standing there in between the trees, mocking me. Without thinking I ran towards it, someone called my name behind me but it didn't stop me any, _I'm gonna catch this thing._

I followed it on the same path as yesterday, same distance, and once again it stopped at the clearing.

"What do you want?!" I yelled, they always wanted one thing... one person. It wavered and silently urged me to advance, I obeyed and found myself not a few feet away from the transparent figure.

"gehenna tou pyros" it whispered airily into the cold space between us,

"What does that even mean?" I scoffed, it reached out to touch me and I retreated immediately. It started advancing with a new intention, one I couldn't quite decipher. All I could tell was that it didn't want to have lunch with me. I opened my mouth to yell for help (though it wouldn't be necessary) but felt my body slack and blackness wrapped around me like a silk cloak, it felt safe.

"Jake!" I heard someone scream from up the path, footsteps drew closer and I could see flashes of colour through the trees. I blacked out before I saw anything else.

Danika's POV

"Jake!" I yelled when I realized something was wrong, Gregory was struggling to keep up as I ran down the winding path, I saw Jake's white T-shirt through the trees. When I finally reached him he was lying face down on the ground,

"Go get help!" I instructed Greg,

"HELP!" he shouted

"No, go and get them!" I urged. I flipped Jake onto his back and checked to see if he was breathing, he wasn't. I started CPR. Somehow, I already knew what had happened (it didn't take a genius to guess). _He ran after that demon thing, and it wasn't gone, it's watching me._ Shivers were sent down my spine and I struggled to suppress the reflex to run away like a scared little girl, _that's not me, I wouldn't do that... would I?_ Jake started to gasp and squirm beneath me, I turned him onto his side as he continued to gasp for breath he couldn't find.

A crowd of family members came running through the thick forestry, Susan led the pack with Haley hot at her heels. She bent down and inspected her debilitated son, I stood up and helped him to his feet. Susan and I supported him as we walked towards the beach house.

"Heyyyy, guys!" he slurred, disoriented. We dragged him through the front door and straight to the living-room where we set him on the couch, I pulled Susan aside,

"We have to leave this island, now." I said bluntly,

"What's happening? What's going on?" Susan's face was pale and clammy. Gramps had heard me and walked over,

"What is it young one?" he asked quietly as to not alert the others,

"There's a demon-thing on the island and it's been messing around with us since the moment we got here. I think it was the cause of Andrew's accident, I don't think we're safe here now that it started attacking." I whispered loudly, Susan's face contorted into a grimace of horror and Gramps' eyes grew wide with shock.

"We'll leave right away!" Susan announced, "I'll go get Haley and pack up." she spun around and ran down the hallway, I could feel It in the room. Practically on the verge of losing my mind, I walked to the bathroom to try and pull myself together. I splashed water in my face and sat on the side of the tub with my head in my hands. A piercing scream roared through the hallway and brought me back to reality, I jumped up and ran towards the sound of glass smashing in the kitchen.

Jake's aunt Mai was on the kitchen floor and had taken shelter behind the counter when I ran in, shattered glass covered the floor.

"What happened?!" I asked, knelt on the ground in front of her. She pointed over the counter at the cupboards, I peeked over the ledge and saw a plate slicing through the air at my head and ducked before the plate torpedoed over me, shattering on the adjacent wall. Mai started screaming again, I hushed her so I could hear what It was saying. I could hear it growling and snarling at the other end of the kitchen, a loud scream pierced the air again,_ that's what I heard the first time, it wasn't aunt Mai._ Just as quickly as it threw the dinette set, it was gone. Cautiously, I helped the shaken woman to her feet and led her into the living room where Jake was sound asleep, _how could he sleep through that!? _I looked across the room at a pillow sized mirror and it smashed to pieces, shattering the image of a girl and a smoky, menacing, faceless figure.


	5. Good Souls Get Burned

**Here's a dilemma. Jake and Danika are teenagers, if I need to say something that includes their genders (ex; teenage___) would I call Jake a man or a boy or both? What about Danika? A woman or girl or both? It's an awkward age to write for! obviously they're past the little boy, little girl stages but they're not grown ups. I'm stumped**

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Danika's POV

"A storm is coming in, it's not safe to leave today." Gramps told me,_ I don't care, as long as I can get the hell off this island_. I stood up and brushed the sand from my pants, the clouds were moving in quickly and menacingly._ They almost predicted the events to come, scary and electrifying._

"Then we sleep in shifts." I said simply, he nodded and turned to walk towards the house with me. We walked into the living room to find Jake was watching TV with Haley and their cousins, Haley looked at me and gave me a nervous smile and glanced at her brother who was probably still in shock from what happened... whatever happened.

"How you feeling?" I asked him, he turned to me quickly as if he was expecting someone else and a look of relief set on his face,

"Better, thanks" he smiled, secretly scared out of his mind. The adults were sitting on the patio discussing what had happened to Mai and Jake, I couldn't help but listen in to their conversation on their theories if poltergeists and demons. Cathy seemed to be the most affected by the incident but in a completely different sense,

"Thanks to that... thing, there are no more plates to serve with!" she yelled furiously, her image of perfect hostess was dwindling under the pressure. Some of the children snickered silently at her deliriousness over not having any plates, some older adults smiled in the opposite direction.

"Just make sandwiches, dear" great aunt Chiu suggested, Cathy stormed off back into the kitchen.

We ate egg salad sandwiches and we set up camp in the large living room, after what happened no one wanted to take chances sleeping alone. I took the first shift, there was no way I would get to sleep tonight.

Around 11:00pm, everyone had settled down for the night and I was reading a novel I had never had the chance to pick up.

"Are you scared?" a small voice called out to me in the darkness, I fumbled with the flashlight and shone it over the sleeping members. A hand reached out and covered the head of the flashlight, I didn't need the flashlight to see in the dark but the children felt safer with it on and the adults preferred the comfort it gave them. I peered into Jake's pale, sleepy face as he sat up in front of me.

"It's me." he whispered, his voice was contorted to an almost unnatural pitch for an adolescant boy and he looked as though all the blood had drained from his entire body, the blank look on his face combined with the voice and his pale appearance sent a shockwave of shivers down my spine.

"Jesus, don't do that!" I whispered harshly,

"Are you?" he asked again, his face eager. Something didn't feel right about the way he smelled, the way he looked, the way he sounded that made my blood stop in its tracks. I decided to play it cool and shrugged nonchalantly,

"Nah, just a bit creeped out... and annoyed." I kept my voice even and returned to my book indifferently, he didn't move and kept his gaze on me,

"Well I am." his voice dropped dramatically and was strained, he was very sombre and continued to look at me blankly. I could feel the heat in my chest rise and my cheeks burn. I wanted to hit him, I wanted to tackle him and start beating him senseless... I wanted to kill him. He layed back down and I could soon hear his deep breathing mix with all the other sleepers'. I soon decided that what had just happened was just a crazy dream or mind trick, _he never woke up or sounded like a crazy person and sure as hell I never thought about killing him_, I still felt guilty about it though.

It wasn't 15 minutes later that I heard It.

The storm raged outside, I thought at one point the roof would fly off but Greg assured me they've had worse and the roof would survive. Somewhere at the other end of the house I could hear a light, constant tapping sound. I dismissed it as a tree branch hitting a window but it soon grew louder until I heard footsteps from down the hall. I looked up and saw the dark silhouette against the light from the window behind it, it didn't moved and I stared warily at it. The air shattered with a blood curdling scream, covering my ears I twisted to the crowd of sleeping people to see them all sitting up, stunned from the high pitch scream filling the room.

It stopped just as quickly as it began, I uncovered my ears and lifted my head to see the children crying hysterically and the adults in shock, Jake sat there dazed and confused. blood trickled from his ears from the debilitating sound, he was being shaken by Fu who was yelling his name. _He probably can't hear him._

Glass shattered from my left, a pictured had flew off the wall onto the middle of the floor. Everyone stared at it expectantly until it caught fire. I grabbed a scratchy blanket from the back of the couch and started to smother the fire, the flames subdued quickly from the lack of oxygen but left a huge ugly burn mark on the hardwood floor, _Cathy isn't going to be happy._

Jake's POV

I heard a high pitched scream and someone was calling me, I was already sitting up and Fu was shaking me and yelling my name when I came to. My family was scattered around in a panic, Haley was clutching mom and Gramps was comforting them but was looking at me. I turned around and saw Danika picking up a burnt blanket, _what happened?_

"Jake! Are you OK?" Fu had been talking to me for a while now, I nodded and rubbed my hand along my neck. When I removed my hand there was blood, I stared at it suspiciously,

"Your ears are bleeding!" Clara (my 11 year old cousin) yelled at me, I nodded. _They were?_ I felt unreal, not there, as if I was watching what was happening to another family, a family that had nothing to do with me. The chaos continued around me until everyone decided try and get more sleep.

I woke up again around 7:30 am, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and was shocked to see a huge, ugly burn mark on Cathy's hardwood floor a few feet away from where I was sleeping. _She's not gonna be too happy._ I climbed over a few sleeping bodies and around the baricade of ottomans and walked towards the washroom. The towels inside were tossed around and the toilet paper was strewn in every direction possible, _someone must have been pissed_. I looked in the mirror as I passed by and noticed the faint blood stains on my neck, it looked like it was wiped off but the light red trail was still there. I washed my face and neck and I walked out of the bathroom to the dining room where most of my family (save for a few left over sleepers) were eating breakfast. I sat next to Danika who looked at me guiltily and turned away, _what's wrong with her?_

We packed up after breakfast and headed out, Cathy seemed happy to have gotten rid of us._ It's a shame, we never got to really enjoy our vacation_. I hoped that our leaving would force the demon to stop terrorising my family but I knew there was very little chance of it just gowing away now that it's become more powerful.

We got back to my house around 8pm, no one said anything about what happened on the island, in fact no one spoke for hours now unless it was necessary. I went up to my room and fell face first on my bed, Danika hardly talked to me all day. Exhausted, I got changed for bed and fell asleep before 10:00.

I woke up in a cold sweat, I was drenched and my sheets weren't much different, my pillow was shredded to pieces and even my PJ top was torn. I sat up and stared at the bomb site that was once my room, fabric littered my floor and sprinkled the remaining furniture. _I don't remember having a bad dream or my dragon powers acting up._ I got up and changed into a fresh pair of PJ bottoms, I was too warm for a shirt. I turned back to my bed, it looked like someone threw my bed in a pool! _Guess I'm sleeping on the couch_, I grabbed a duvet from the hallway linen closet and made my way downstairs, the wall clock in the kitchen said it was 12:38.

I knocked on Danika's door and heard a slight groan from within, I opened the door slightly and peeked my head in the doorway,

"Can I borrow a pillow? Mine's... dirty." I half explained, good job Jake, she wasn't awake enough to ask any questions so she reached over and threw a stray pillow at the open door, missing epically. I reached in and dragged the pillow towards the door and thanked her quietly.

"Don't eat that, it wasn't being nice to the pig." she warned oblivious to what she just said, I ducked out and headed towards the couch and set up my makeshift bed. It wasn't the ideal sleeping arrangement, the couch has been around this house since before I was even thought of so it's got some wear and tear but otherwise acceptable to sleep on as a last resort. I threw the pillow at the end and dragged the heavy duvet behind me as I dropped heavily onto the tan sofa.

Pain suddenly ripped through my chest and insane pressure squeezed my head until I thought it would pop off, I rolled off the couch and landed heavily onto the floor. I struggled to breathe as I rolled onto my sides. It felt like I had drunk some acid and it was now dissolving my insides slowly, while being stabbed in the head repeatedly. I finally managed a loud enough scream to get someone's attention.

Mom, Dad and Danika were at my side in minutes but the pain kept scorching my insides. Dad rushed for the phone and called 911 while mom and Danika tried to get me to sit up so I could breathe better, I didn't know how much longer I could hold on for, the blood rushed and roared in my ears but I could still, in the distance, hear a low, meniacle chuckle.

* * *

_**OK, This has absolutely nothing to do with the story but I feel the need to share my ninja skills with the world. Today, while I was walking home from the chinese restaurant down the street with my dad, we were crossing a parking lot and I saw a bird fly overhead. I looked up and saw it take a crap midflight, I screamed and ran back but my dad kept walking. The poo landed right where I would have been if I didn't see the bird crap!! Am I a ninja or what!! Anyway, blah blah blah Jake's on acid!! and the demon thing thinks his trip is funny... just kidding, don't take it seriously :/**_


	6. The Walls Run Red With Death

Danika's POV

Jake came into my room in the middle of the night to ask for a pillow, I didn't want to argue or ask questions so I threw my extra pillow towards the open door,

"Bring it back" I warned (but I think I might have said something a bit different), he thanked me and closed the door. I fell asleep quickly but was soon woken up by a loud, strangled, painfull cry and a turned stomach. I don't remember how it happened or when but the next thing I was aware of is I was kneeling beside Jake who was rolling on the ground and screaming. Susan and Johnathan had ran downstairs at the sound of their son's cries, Johnathan immediately called 911. Haley walked down the stairs as Susan and I were trying to get Jake into a sitting position,

"What happened?!" She shrieked, her father walked over and picked her up in his arms and smoothed back her hair and trying to calm her down in this confusing ambulance arrived not 10 minutes after Johnathan called, Jake had stopped screaming and was very lethargic and pale. His head was rolling to the sides and his eyes were glassy and bloodshot. The paramedics evaluated him for a few minutes before they put him on a stretcher and rushed him to the hospital, we followed the stretcher out the doorand watched as Jake was loaded into the back of the ambulance.

"Danika, can you watch Haley please." Susan begged as she got in the back of the ambulance behind Jake, Johnathan was getting into the car to meet them at the hospital. I hesitated, I have to be with Jake, I have to make sure he's OK.

"I wanna go, mommy!" Haley cried, I grabbed Haley's shoulders and hugged her close to me.

"I'll watch her for you Susan." I replied. Haley was still crying and trying to go with her mother, the ambulance doors closed and it took off screamimg down the street. Some neighbors had come out of their homes to see what the emergency was, I stood there with Haley in the cool, late August air watching the ambulance and the Long's car disappear arount the corner. Hayley was sobbing, I picked her up and carried her inside the house. I put her on the couch and went to get her a glass of water, I turned on the tap with shaky hands and waited for the water to become cooler. I didn't realize how hard I was grrpping onto the glass until it shattered and cut my hand,

"Shit!" I exclaimed, the cuts didn't hurt that much but the counter and floor was covered in glass,

"What happened?" Haley called from the other room,

"I just dropped a glass." my voice shook, I grabbed the hand broom and started sweeping the glass off the floor. My vision started to blurr as tears streamed down my face. I dumped half of the mess into the garbage, I walked back to the counter but collapsed onto a kitchen chair and started to pray. The Longs went to church every month but I wasn't sure what they're religion was, I wiped my face and finished sweeping up the mess in the kitchen. I sat down next to Haley as I handed her a new glass of water,

"You should call Grampa." She suggested,still shaking from the shock, didn't Susan or Johnathan call him yet? I reached over the arm of the disturbed couch and picked up the cordless phone, I dialed Fu's cell in case they were on their way to either the hospital or here. Fu answered on the third ring,

"Hey, Danika?" Fu asked into the phone,

"Hey, Fu. Jake's gone to the hospital with his parents-"

"Ya, I know. We're on our way. Is Haley with you?" he interrupted

"Ya, she's here." I said looking over at her, she fell asleep on the pillow Jake had put down, why was he sleeping down here anyway?

"OK, we'll be there in a few minutes." I hung up without saying goodbye, I turned to Haley who was sleeping safetly in unconciousness.  
I picked her up and brought her upstairs and placed her in her bed, as I walked out I heard a loud thump coming from the room across the hall, Jake's room. The door was slightly open and I could hear heavy breathing from the other side, taking cover behind the wall next to the door, I pushed it open and peeked around the jam to see inside. The bed was soaked and I could see shreds of fabric that I guess would have been his pillow, his red PJ top was thrown on the floor and was also ripped, what the hell happened here?!. I looked around but could see nothing out of place or any trace of someone being there, I closed the door behind me and walked downstairs, I sat on the couch and waited for Gramps and Fu to get here and prayed they would hurry.

Gramps' POV

We knocked on the front door of Jake's house, Danika answered and led us to the kitchen. The house was dark save for the kitchen light and the nightlight upstairs for Haley, Danika sat down on a chair and ran her fingers through her hair,

"What happened?" I asked, Susan didn't give me much detail over the phone but told me that Danika was left home with Haley, it lookd pretty serious.  
She stuggled under the weight of shock and disorientation, I sat down on a chair opposite to her and Fu put the kettle on for tea.

"I was sleeping and Jake came downstairs and asked me for a pillow. He left, I went to sleep. And next thing I knew it I was sitting next to him and he was rolling on the ground and screaming." I went over what she had said for a minute, Fu came over and handed us mugs of tea. Danika took hers and winced as she removed her hand from the mug, I grabbed her hand and saw the oozing cuts,

"What happened?" I asked surprised as the though that she might be cutting herself. They cut the wrists, not the palms.

"I broke a glass and it cut my hand. I forgot to bandage it but it looks like its healing pretty well." she explained, dropped her hand and went for the mug with her other hand.

"Why did Jake come downstairs? Do you know?" I asked her patiently, changing the subject.

"I'm not sure, come see." She got up and lead us to Jake's room and opened the door, she turned on the light. I was shocked at what I saw, the room was a disaster!  
the bed was soaked and there was shreds of fabric and stuffing everywhere, she walked over and picked up a torn, red fabric. She opened the article to reveal it was a PJ top, it was torn all over except for the back,

"Think he had a nightmare? Wet the bed?" Fu asked incredulous,

"It's sweat. Not urine" I replied "If it was a nightmare, he wouldn't be able to cause so much damage. He wouldn't claw at himself like that either."  
I heard a small cry from the joined bathroom Danika disappeared into just a few seconds ago, I ran over to the door and she burst out of the door gasping. I walked inside and nearly fell over. The walls were covered in what looked like blood or red paint, unidentifiable words were smeared everywhere,

"Look up." Danika whispered from behind me, I looked up at the ceiling. In big red letters were the words; gehenna tou pyros.

"What does it mean?" I asked to myself,

"Hellfire." Danika whispered behind me, what does THAT mean? I saw the writing ran down into the shower, I pulled the curtain back and found more words, this time in english. Death, Die, Kill. I ran out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind me, I was speechless.

"The demon's after Jake!" I exclaimed, Danika shook her head,

"It's taken over!" she corrected, eyes wide as saucers. I ran into Haley's room and flipped the light switch, she sat up groggily,

"Haley, I need to know if you heard anything from Jake's room since he went to bed." I urged, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she thought about what I was asking.

"I heard him get up once, I think he used the washroom." she replied. I looked at Danika who was standing in the doorway next to Fu.

"OK, get up. We're going to the hospital." I announced.

Susan's POV

I jumped in the ambulance after they loaded Jake's stretcher in,

"Danika, can you watch Haley please." I almost begged, Johnathan was going to drive the car and meet us at the hospital. Haley cried for me and I almost broke down, once child possibly dying right in front of me and the other being left behind in complete histerics, mother of the year goes to... We started driving away down the street,the paramedics were hard at work. While the younger of the two was taking Jake's temperature I started to get nervous, he needs a magical doctor. Jake started to squirm and break loose of his trance, a monitor started to beep madly as his tantrum increased. Jake started sreaming hysterically and was practically shoving the paramedics aside when they tried to get control, his eyes had rolled back in his head and deep blue patches started to grow on his bare chest and arms. The machine continued to scream and soon others followed,

"He's going into cardiac arrest!" one of the men announced as Jake's body went limp, he started chest compressions as his partner got a set of paddles ready.  
I was beside myself, the older of the two (whose nametag said 'David') placed the paddles on my child's chest. His body bucked from the electricity of the paddles, I started to sob. A constant screeching came from the monitor, his heart had stopped. The two men continued trying to save his life, I held my breath as I watched his face, looking for any signs of life.

The monitor started a steady beeping sound, the kind you hear in hospital scenes on TV. I sighed as the two relaxed, a mask was placed over Jake's mouth and David administered air by squeezing the bag at the top. With David's permission, I scooted up the tiny bench and started to stroke Jake's hair,

"It's gonna be OK, baby." I comforted to my unconsious child, the ride to the hospital felt like it took hours although it took us under 15 minutes.

They unloaded him from the ambulance and rushed him inside, I stepped out of the ambulance behind him awkwardly,

"Susan!" Johnathan called, he ran over and hugged me tightly. I sobbed into his pijama shirt,

"He... he died!... only for a few minutes but..." I stammered, he led me into the hospital and we tried to find out where they sent him. we ran up to the triage desk,

"Our son just came in-" Johnathan began to the nurse who was obviously uninterested at the one of hundreds of emergencies she witnessed on her shift,  
a man in scrubbs standing next to the desk looked up at us,

"You're his parents?" he asked, we nodded and he motioned us towards a seating area closed off to the general public. He offered us coffee and tea but we refused, he sat down across from us and pulled out a chart and pen,

"Hi, I'm Micheal." he introduced a little late."I'm going to need you fill out these forms." he said handing me the a packet of papers off the chart, I tucked it on my lap and looked at him desperately. From our expressions and his previous experience he figured we weren't up to small chitchat.

"We don't know what's wrong with your son. We think he might have suffered a heart attack but we aren't completely sure, we're going to have to run some tests to get a better idea. I need to know if your son has any conditions or has recently suffered any trauma." his voice was very professional and comforting, Johnathan slowly shook his head no. I thought about anything that would stand out as traumatic. He was always getting injured from dragon practice (though he's getting better with time.)...the island! Johnathan wasn't there, he didn't know. We told him that there was a severe storm warning for the area and had to evacuate the island, could what happened to Jake the day before have anything to do with what's happening now? I know he's been acting strange since it happened but that would obviously be normal to be freaked out but I didn't think it would cause this much of a physical problem.

"He hasn't been feeling well since we got back from our trip to the keys." I told him, he wrote something down.

"So when did this start and what have been his symptoms?" his hand was poised above the paper, ready to scribble down any information he could use to save my son's life.

"Well... yesterday..." I looked at my watch, 1:00, "... or the day before, I guess. He was outside and he passed out, we didn't think much of it, we thought it was just heat exhaustion. He's been very spacey and quiet since then, I thought he was just tired from the trip... we all were." that's all I could say to him without setting off any alarms, Johnathan looked at me surprised that he didn't hear about this before now. I shrugged apologetically and started to fill out the forms, the nurse stood up and took the general information page from me as I finished filling in the last boxes,

"We'll look into dehydration as a factor, if there is anything else you think of please let me know." he shook our hands and walked off. I hope that helps him a little bit. I hope that's enough.

"I should call Dad and see if he can check up on the kids for us" I told Johnathan who nodded and took over the paperwork. I easily found a payphone bank near the entrance, how many people used these phones to call family members to tell them their relative died? How many of those dead relatives were their sons, brothers, nephews! As if just touching them would increase my chances of becoming one of those people, I pulled out my cell phone and walked out of the building. 


	7. Are You Scared Yet?

I'm no doctor of medicine chick so I'm just gonna skip all the technical stuff. Sorry to disappoint but what can you do when your medical school knowledge is drinking diet coke and eating menthos is NOT a good idea?

* * *

Micheal's POV

I walked back into the emergency where Jacob was being treated,

"Jacob Long, 14. No chronic or recently treated illness or infection. The mom says that he suffered what was thought to be a heat stroke a day or so ago on a trip to the keys." I announced to the crew. I looked at the boy on the table, he was young but seemed to be in great shape and was very built. I noticed dark blue-purple spots were forming on his skin, I inspected them

"He's had those since we got him." another nurse informed me.

"Bruises?" I inquired, the nurse nodded slightly.

"Should I get social services?" she asked me, I didn't think that his parents seemed to be the kind to be abusive, yet appearances could be deceiving. I nodded and she picked up the wall phone to dial for Karyn, the social worker.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong, besides the obvious. We should run some tests though." the lead doctor concluded. The nurses detached the ventilator and attached a bag to the tube so he could breathe on the way to the ICU. We wheeled him out into the hall and were greeted by his parents, his mother was a wreck (as most where when their children where being wheeled out of the emergency rooms). I stopped for a minute and allowed them to see their son before we sent him in for some tests.

The separation was hard for them but we managed to get him in the elevator without a huge scene. I brought him up to the second floor for a CT scan and set him up on the machine before exiting into the observation room. The test seemed normal, there was nothing noteable except for a small irritation around the top of the skull, I dismissed it as him hitting his head during the ride here. Half way through the test he started to wake up and move around,

"Jake, you're at the hospital. I'm running a very important test right now, stay still please. We'll get you out soon." I spoke into the intercom, he only struggled more and small grunts escaped despite the breathing tube in his throat. I pressed the emergency termination button on the panel and rushed into the room with two technicians. I prepared a syringe of sedatives and easily found the port on the inside of his arm, just as I was about to administer the drugs he grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull away but his grip was too strong, in fact, the longer he held on the harder his grip became.

He had fully come out of the giant machine and flipped me onto my back to the cold tile floor. He sat up and removed the setup of wires and tubes attached to his body, the technicians tried to stop him but he pushed them away easily. He stood up sturdily and finished removing the tubes until he was completely free. I looked around from my place on the floor and saw the full extent of the damage done to the others.

They were passed out on the floor and some blood marked their faces, I looked up at him as he stood in front of me. He leaned down and picked me up by the collar of my shirt until I was face to face with him. I stared into his crimson red eyes, _they weren't like that before,_ and he stared blankly into mine,

"What are you doing?" I cried, I remembered the syringe in my hand and tried to stab it into his arm. He grabbed it about an inch above his sking and flung it across the room where it shattered against the wall. With his other hand, he reached over and pinched a nerve on my shoulder. I blacked out.

Danika's POV

We rushed out the door and morphed into our dragon forms, Haley jumped on my back and we flew as fast as we could to the hospital. Gramps stopped mid air and looked frantically around,

"What is it?" I demamnded,

"Which hospital would they have sent him?" he asked,_ how was I suppose to know?!_ There were two hospitals he could have been sent to; St. Mary's or Manhattan Central.

"You go check St. Mary's and I'll go check Central." he ordered, we split up and flew our separate ways. It took me 5 minutes to fly to St. Mary's Hospital,

"Do you see your parents' car anywhere, Haley?" I called over my shoulder, she leaned over my side and searched the cars below the emerg. parkinglot.

"There! That's our car!" she yelled, I nosedived to a dark area near the entrance so we wouldn't be seen. I morphed back into my human form, making sure the coast was clear I ran out of the shrubbery that was camouflaging us from the humans and dragged Haley through the entrance and into a waiting room, Haley easily found her mother.

"Mommy!" Haley yelled as she ran towards Susan who was buying a cheap coffee from a tiny concession stand, she spun at the sound of her daughters excited voice and caught Haley as she torpedoed full speed towards her. I ran over as she looked at me curiously,

"Susan, where's Jake?" I asked sharply, her eyes widened as she realized something (most likely magic related) was wrong.

"They brought him upstairs to run some tests... what is it?" she dropped her voice, people were starting to stare.

"Remember that thing from the island? It's after Jake. It followed us back! It might be influencing him." I tried to explain,  
she shook her head incoherently. I didn't have time to explain further, I pulled out my phone and called Fu's cell,

"Talk to the Fu." he answered on the first ring,

"Hey, Fu. I found Jake at St. Mary's, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong that we know of. I'm going to look for him, something doesn't feel right." This was like a secret code between us. Everytime Jake or I had a 'bad feeling' there was always something that was going to happen. Although it was only a closed circuit connection between Jake and I we became more sensitive to other events so our 'hunches' were always taken seriously by Gramps and Fu even if they never happened.

"Try to hold back if you can until we get there, you'll need all the help you can get." he was right, as a paired dragon I was more vulnerable without my partner, who happened to be Jake, the one I'm hunting down. I'm still pretty weak compared to him despite my progress which, I think, is why Gramps is holding Jake back in training a bit, so I could catch up in case something like this happens... so I have a chance of surviving against him.

I heard alarms go off and pages for security to the Radiology unit, _I'm guessing that's my stop_. I ran to the directory and found the radiology unit on the second floor, realizing it would be faster to take the stairs I sprinted through the heavy doors and up the concrete stairs. The alarms got louder the closer I got to the second floor, I walked throught the doors and saw patients being evacuated and security officers running to the scene.

I followed them around a corner but jumped back in time to see a guard get taken out by a flying food cart, I flattened myself against the wall and peeked around the corner. Jake was standing at the end of the hallway with his head down in his hands,

"Jake!" I called out to him. His head jerked up and he looked at me, a smile crept across his face but didn't reach his eyes, which were now unrecognizeable and distorted in colour and shade.

"Are you scared yet?" he asked in that horrifying, high pitched voice. Some kind computer went flying at my head and I ducked behind the wall before it knocked my head off, _my close calls are running out._ Silence flooded the hallway until all I could hear was the hammering of my heart and the slow, deliberate footsteps coming down the hall behind me,_ how am I going to fight this without hurting Jake? Without getting myself killed?!_

I looked around for something to defend myself with, _I won't use my dragon powers if he's not going to use his, I didn't want to give him any ideas._ I grabbed what looked like a pipe and braced myself for when he turns the corner, as I looked around the corner he grabbed me by the throat and threw me down the hall. I fell through a door, knocking it off its hinges and landed in a dark, empty room, I looked up and saw him walking towards the empty doorjamb,

"Jake, don't do this." I pleaded, his eyes flashed with emotion then went dull again. He continued to walk towards me, I sat up and tried to defend myself but before I could even have an idea on how I would be doing that, he had me by the throat again and lifted me up to where my feet dangled over the busted down door,

"Gehenna tou pyros,gehenna tou pyros," he chanted, "Now you can know what it's like to burn in in hell... HellFire." he hissed. he slowly started to squeeze my throat. _God Danika, fight him!_ But I couldn't, I just couldn't.

"You don't want to kill me..." I strained. Suddenly, I hear glass shatter in the background. He dropped me and turned to the newcomer, I fell to the ground and gasped for breath. I looked up and saw Gramps and Fu.


	8. Winning The Race While Losing Control

Ok, I put a lot of time and effort into this chapter (which might be why it's taken so long to put up) so I don't want anyone messaging me saying that the dates are wrong (which are not by the way) and that Orision (who is an actual mythological demon) is completely off... I made him that way, ish. So please enjoy my hard work and I hope that u find it turned out as well as I think it did :D

* * *

Danika's POV

"Stop it, Jake!" Gramps ordered, "This is not who you are!". Jake laughed as a tray of syringes went flying towards the elderly dragon, regaining my strength, I jumped on Jake's back in a feeble attempt to distract him for Gramps. He cried out as I put him in a chokehold and swung my bodyweight to the left. He went down but did a shoulder tuck so that he was landing on me, mainly my head, neck, and shoulders. I cried out as my head slammed on the hard tile floor and glass punctured my back. My plan worked though, Gramps came up and whiped his tail at Jake's still human form, enough to knock him off but not hurt him too badly.

He landed on the radiator under a lage window, I cringed as I realized how close he was to going through the glass, _don't hurt him Gramps._ Gramps wasted no time and tried to take control, he flew over and grabbed Jake by wrapping his tail around the teenager. Jake squirmed but was unsuccessful, he looked Gramps dead in the eyes and a ear spliting scream cut through the air. The same scream that we heard at the Island.

The large window shattered behind them and the shards shot across the room with intention, Gramps dropped Jake and flew over to Fu and I. He use his body to shield us against the blades. When he deemed it safe, Gramps got up and turned to where Jake should have been but he was nowhere in sight. He cautiously scanned the room but came up with nothing, _did he jump out the window?_

"Are you OK?" he asked turning to me, _no I'm not OK!! How can I be?! I almost got killed by my partner and then he vanishes into thin air, how would I be OK?! _I nodded, my shoulder ignited with seering pain. When I pulled Jake to the left I was going to roll off on my right, but when he tucked I landed on my left shoulder. It hasn't completely healed yet, I think he purposely tucked with his left so my shoulder would take both of our weight and give out. Now that I thought about it, I wasn't OK, physicaly. Everywhere hurt and my head was throbbing, probably bleeding too, glass had punctured my skin where usually the scales would kick in and keep the glass from injuring me.

I was getting weaker. I wasn't made to fight Jake, we had to work together. Up until now Jake was technically protecting me, buffering the blows if you will, until I was strong enough but now that the one who was once protecting me is now my opponent I'm not sure if I'll be able to fight this one.

"I'm not OK, Gramps." I confessed, I was still sitting on the ground and could hear people running towards us in the halls,

"We should go." Gramps said, he picked me up with his tail (like he had Jake) and Fu jumped on his back. We flew out the window before anyone saw us.

We got back to the shop 20 minutes after we left. Sun Park was waiting in the front room with Haley when we walked in, I was going to ask why they were there but I figured they would tell me anyway so I decided to save my breath.

"Did you find him?" Sun asked as she stood up, she was a very graceful woman with jet black hair. Fu said that dragons were naturally graceful creatures and it showed in their human forms aswell, _I think he was lying because I was far from graceful, _Jake was pretty light on his feet which I would tease him about, I was the black sheep in the grace and beauty department... more like a three legged cow with a bad twitch (though thats a bit much). Gramps shook his head no and she fell onto the couch dejectedly. I sat on the couch next to her and she noticed the wounds on my back,

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" My back and shoulder was bleeding, I was covered in scrapes. She grabbed the first aid kit from behind the desk,

"I'm fine, really. I'll just go take a shower and they'll fall out no problem." I stood up, the last thing I want is to have someone pulling glass out of my back. She glanced at me and turn to Gramps who was still in his dragon form. tweezers in hand,

"I guess you're first Lao Shi." she smiled, I headed for the shower. I walked into the washroom and observed the damage in the mirror. Bruises started to form all over my body, finger shaped bruises formed around my neck. My shoulder was bleeding a bit and blood leaked down my back. I got into the shower and started to rinse the blood off, the cuts on my back stung but at least the glass shards fell out under the water, _what the hell is going on here?_... Then it hit me.

I walked out of the bathroom and stormed to Fu's desk and bookshelves. They were in the back room and were still tending to Gramps' wounds,

"I know what's going on! I know why this is happening!" I enthused, I ran over to a stack of books and rummaged through them until I found the one Fu used to explain our origins. I opened the gold and emerald coloured leather book and flipped through our recorded past, some blanks we had to filled in ourselves and recorded those in the book too. I flipped to a page that had a hologram or Jake and I many lives ago with a dark, cloaked figure. I stared at the photo until everything came back to me in a rush of memories.

**The gates of hell had opened again, evil spirits flooded the Earth and corrupted both the magical and human realm. Lucifer's (the devil) right hand man, Orision had come out of the depths of Hell and plagued the Earth with what is now infamously known as The Black Plague.**

**It was 1666 and another 'great wave' of the Black Death was set out by Orision to finalize the human population. To increase the chance of success he created a great split in the Earth in the second realm (so it was unknown to humans), more and more cretaurium (a small, stubby creature with three eyes and burnt/rotting skin) were sent to sabotage the humans. We were both 16 at the time and were living in eastern Asia.**

**We had followed the split in the Earth to South America. Spirits and evil demonic creatures emerged non-stop from the opening, the leader of this mess was Orision. He had organized the creatures and have them spread the plague clear across the human realm and parts of the magical dimensions as well. We somehow managed to lure him to the Burning River to Hell' in the third realm, a river that leads to the core of Hell itself. The evil spirits that get caught in the rapid flow of the river get dragged down and shipped to the devil directly. We had drowned him in the river and his soul got caught in the undertoe. No one knows what happened to him but it was believed that another crack in the Earth emerged and his spirit escaped.**

"He's back" I whispered to myself, Fu looked frustrated to be left out of this 'aha' moment and read the inscription Jake scribled in the book. I stood up and pulled out a map of the magical realms, as Gramps and Sun went to inspect the blurb.

"Which realm is the 'Burning River to Hell' in?" I asked Fu, _he's obviously seen it before in his 600 years_. He finished reading the insert and walked over to the map I had set up on the floor. He pointed to a particular area on the map and it zoomed in on a brilliant blue river, _there it is_, I smiled.

"Orision's spirit is trying to take over Jake, trying to finish what he started. He believes that Jake was the one who killed him at the river so he's going after him instead of me, also, Jake's sensitive to spiritual activity so it would have been easier to get to him directly. You'd think that being able to be aware of him would give Jake the advantage and he'd be less vulnerable but he's actually closer Orision's magic and was more subjective to his advances." I explained as I showed Fu the area of the river used to defeat Orision, now a religious landmark used for baptisms, renewals and the odd exorcism. How conveinient.

"Wait. How do you know Jake can see ghosts?" Gramps asked a little **too** shocked,_ was it **that** big a secret?_

"I'm not stupid. The bluetooth idea was pretty clever though, I'll give him that" I stated and tapped my head. Truth is I saw them too, a bit. And this wasn't the only lifetime he could see spirits, it's got us in a few mix ups before.

"So Jake didn't kill him?" Haley interjected, regretfully I shook my head no,

"Jake was the last one he saw before he died but I was the one who ended up killing him." I said, I felt bad that he was taking the heat for something I did, although, it was a combined effort.

"How did that happen?" she asked confused, her question was unexpected. I remembered what happened though I didn't want to. Everyone was waiting my answer now,_ it doesn't really matter now... does it? It was so long ago._

"Jake was drowning, Orision had him pinned under the water. I over estimated Jake and thought that I would have time to kill Orision before he would be in any danger. I killed Orision, and ended up killing Jake too... I was wrong and stupid to make that kind of decision, to take that risk. I died a few months later of Spanish Flu as the plague started to break up." I told the quiet faces, I went back to mapping out the portals to the magical realms but the room was quiet all the same,

"You did what you had to do, Danika. Does Jake know?" Sun comforted, I looked up and saw that they weren't mad or whatever you would be in this kind of situation. They didn't seem overtly shocked,_ how is it not a big deal to kill someone?! Someone they knew, whom half of them are related to!?_

"Ya, he knows. We talked it over and he's forgiven me." I laughed, _not that there was anything to forgive (according to him)_

***  
"You don't have to apologize, Danika" Jake said, grinning. "It's not like you planned on killing me or anything." I was in tears at the memory of holding his lifeless body on the river bank. Lives for us by now were pretty much like nintendo lives, you always came back so whats the big deal if that Koopa (a/n is that what the dinosaur thing was called?) killed you? You could just come back and try again. It's sad when you accept the fact that you can't get too attached to the life you're living because eventually it would just end up as failure, or short lived success if you were lucky.

"Maybe, if I-" I started,

"I was already gone. There was nothing you could have done." he interupted. We never spoke about it again. He didn't think it was that big of a deal,_ I guess it's different if you tried so hard to save someone's life than if you were the one who was brain-dead before you could feel the pain of dying._

It still disturbed me but Jake said that I was weird and felt guilty for anything and everything, I thought he was weird for not caring that the person he trusted his life with killed him. I pointed to a place on the map around the top of Long Island,

"There's a portal here, it should take us to the 'Burning River'." I plotted, I had formulated a plan and I pray to God Jake would come out of it alive this time.

Jake's POV

I woke up under a brige somewhere,_ where am I?_ My head throbbed and felt like it was going to explode, I looked at myself and saw that I had a hospital gown and my PJ pants that I'd put on at home... wherever **that** was.

_You're safe with me..._ A voice whispered in my ear, I spun around but no one was there, heavy traffic hummed above my head and gunshots were fired in the distance.

"Who are you? What do you want?!" I tried to contain my fear. blood coated my gown, _What happened?_ My pulse raced.

_You know what you have to do... _It whispered again, what the hell is that suppose to mean?! I noticed I was clutching a blade, my sword. It turned into a small dagger and my hand draged the blade up to my wrist, _I didn't do that!_

You'll listen to me and do what I say or you and everyone around you will die... The voice was dark and menacing... and coming from inside my head!

"I'm going nuts!" I concluded, the blade broke the skin as my hand pressed it deeper into my wrist. I couldn't pull back the blade or drop my wrist, I started to lose it. My heart was beating frantically inside my chest as if, it too, was trying to escape this nightmare.

_You are. But I'm still real. It's just you and me from now on... _Tears streaked my face as the blade slid horizontally off my wrist.

"Stop... STOP!" I screamed, the blade disconected from my wrist and poised itself vertically at my elbow on the inside of my arm, the way serious cutters would if they wanted to kill themselves.

_You'll listen to me won't you?..._ it asked, obviously pleased with its control and my current state of mind. I nodded quickly and tears continued roll down my cheeks,

_I CAN'T HEAR YOU!... _It hissed, the blade pressed down and blood leaked from my pores,

"YES! I'll listen! Please don't hurt me!" I could feel It mess around with my mind, making me think things I didn't know were possible, making me feel things (or in this case overreact) that Jake Long, The American Dragon...where ever he was , would not normally display to his opponent. In my mind I could see It grinning, the blade lifted and I regained control of both my _hands,_

_Good. You be a good boy now, afterall we're all we have left... Just you and me now... _I sunk to the ground nodding. _Would it have been a better idea to have let it kill me?_

* * *

I was thinking of not putting up that last part with Jake and Orision to make the story shorter but I thought it would be unfair to just have him disappear for an entire chapter and let Danika take up the spotlight. The scene is a bit dosturbing thought isn't it. :/ Opinions please!


	9. Out Running Winged Death

I decided that since everyone loves Rose I should include her in my stories at least a little bit. She's going to be in this scene but unfortunately she's not a huge character in this story specifically. Enjoy her presense

* * *

Danika's POV

**_Ill b there in 5 min. c u there_**. My cell phone read, I logged off the computer and tucked my notes in my bag.

I ducked out of the library as quietly as I could and walked down the steps onto the sidewalk. It took me a few minutes to get to the coffee shop and I still had enough time to buy a couple of coffees and find a table in a secluded corner of the cafe. I turned as the front door bell chimed a new customer, a tall, blond haired girl stood in the doorway and scanned the shop. I nodded at her and she sat in the seat across from me, her pale blue, almost grey, eyes scrutinized me and I stared back at her with my electric blue eyes. She smiled,

"It's nice to finally meet you, Danika." She reached over the table in an attempt to shake my hand, instead of taking her hand I offered her the extra coffee, I wasn't willing to shake her hand anytime soon. She smiled and accepted it graciously,

"Likewise Rose, though we have met before. Like I said on the phone, Jake is in serious trouble. I need you to somehow ensure that we get here without any... intrusions." I took out a printed out map of New York and placed it on the tiny table in frot of her. I pointed to a red-marked area on Long Island,

"Is that it?! I thought I was going to help you save Jake, I'm not going to chaperone a little trip to Long Island!" he argued,

"The Huntsman is going to find out about our situation one way or another. I need to make sure, for Jake's sake, that nothing goes wrong. Trust me, the less you're involved in this the better." I rebutted, her eyes narrowed suspiciously,

"What kind of trouble are you in anyways? I want to know what cause my services are going to before I agree to anything."

"Rose, don't be difficult. All I'm telling you is that Jake is in serious trouble and there's a portal here that he needs to cross before something really bad happens. You did say you were an ally, right? You're not going to turn your back on us are you?" I didn't trust Rose and she knew it, whatever information I released to her was on a need to know basis.

"I'll see what I can do." She snapped. She took her coffee and left the shop. At least if she was planning on sabotaging the plan she would be too far from our destination to cause any damage. She cared too much for Jake to jeapordize his life, but if she did I would be ready. I felt a little guilty for giving her the wrong coordinates,_ you have to do what you have to do to protect the ones you cared._ I pulled the map back into my bag and drank steadily from my coffee, awaiting the events to come.

I pulled my hood over my head and 'snuck' out the front door. Susan watched me from the bottom of the stairs, hugging herself,

"Good luck, Danika." she whispered into the darkness, I turned around and nodded at the pale, terrified woman,

"I'm bringing your son home, Susan." I promised, _if it's the last thing I do._ I marched out the door and shut it silently behind me. I jumped off the front stoop and morphed into my dragon form, I flew over to the Empire State building where Gramps, Fu and Sun were waiting. Trixie and Spud tagged along with their makeshift dragon costume that Fu tricked out with dragon powers.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Gramps asked me, I knew he wanted to do this, to save his grandson, but he didn't want to risk losing me either. I could see he was scared of me changing my mind so I looked him confidentally in the eye and nodded. _Magical creatures look to dragons for guidance and leadership, _Gramps told me once. Was I leading them? Sure. Was this a good idea to drag them in? I had no idea. I turned around and lead the others, where we would end up I had no idea.

I followed my instincts to the statue of Liberty, _great... but where's Jake?_ I looked around but I there was no sign of him anywhere! I landed on Ms. Liberty's head,

"Why are we here?" Trixie asked, I had to concentrate. _Maybe I'm not picking anything up because I'm looking for Jake's energy, not Orision's._

"Looking for me?" that once familiar and comforting voice was now a disgusting and menacing sound, much lower than before. I spun on my heel and faced him. He had changed clothes since I last saw him, he was dressed in a black cloak, _perfect._

"Actually, yes. What took you so long?" I played, he frowned and tried to lunge at me. I flew up and he missed me, he looked at me and chuckled,

"You're going to play that way now? Don't make me hunt you down, more fun for me more gruesome ending for you." He was taunting me, trying to get in my head. I decided to play his game and gasped in mock terror as I covered my heart with my hands,

"Oh, please, don't hurt me." I provoked flatly. He snarled and morphed into his dragon form, the only thing that wasn't different about him. _He may have strength but I have speed_, I flew Roff towards Long Island with Jake close at my tail. Gramps took a shortcut with the others as I stalled him for as long as possible. The difference between Jake and I was stamina, he could fight like a machine but when it came to flying in a sprint his energy was inconsistant and came in small bursts.

I flew ahead of him and played with his speeds by keeping a consistant distance, he slowed down so would I, he sped up I made sure he never got near my tail.

Around Coram I noticed a weird aircraft up ahead, _What the hell?_

"I thought you might need help." Rose called as I approached, she pulled out her huntstaff and aimed for Jake.

"No!" I yelled, I knocked the staff out of her hands and it fell. She cursed and nosedived on her little hovercraft, Jake followed her and whiped his tail at her legs. She flew off the board and fell helplessly towards the Earth. I didn't like her but I wasn't going to let her die either, I swooped down and caught her a few feet from the ground.

"The less you're involved in this the better." I told her again as I set her down, she yelled at me to watch out as Jake swooped down and knocked me over. He tried to lunge at my neck but I let him eat my tail (a/n like a punch... a knuckle sandwich if you will, but with tail ), he fell back and I could see Rose taking aim at Jake again.

"Rose, Stop!" I demanded, Jake turned around but before he could go after her I stomped on his tail, a cheap shot I know but it sure got his attention.

"You to can't catch me so you go after a weak human?" I taunted and flew off, he followed behind me as I made the final stretch to Hubbard County Park.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves!" Jake yelled behind me, I could feel the heat rise in my chest. I felt frustrated and in a sense hopeless. _What's the chance of this plan actually working? What's the chance of both Jake and I coming out of this alive?_ I could feel the odds stacked against us were insane but I had to try something.

I easily found Hubbard Park, finding the portal is something else. I started to get nervous as Jake began to pick up the pace and I couldn't compensate, I was starting to get tired and he knew it. I flew over the park,_ I don't even know what a portal looks like!_ Suddenly, heard someone call my name from near the water. It was Spud, I flew over to him in a final sprint for the finish, though it wasn't over yet.

"Watch out!" Spud screamed. About a hundred yards away from the invisible portal, Jake had caught up and was above me. He kicked the middle of my back and sent me spiralling down towards the open field. I landed roughly but got up and ran the rest of the way, once again I was ahead of Jake. I got up to the portal and stopped, Jake was a few yards behind, _so far he hasn't caught on._

"Nowhere to run now." Jake growled and he crept closer, I motioned Spud to climb on my back incase Jake decided to take him out before follwing me into the portal.

"What are you going to do, **_kill_** me? You couldn't get it done the first time, what makes you think you can now Orision?" I kept pushing his buttons, the angrier I made him the more mistakes he would make. Jake let out a starngled battlecry and I made a dash into the portal.

* * *

In my next story Rose will be a might be a more prominent character, I have already started typing the story but my dilemma is that the story can go two ways and which one too take. One way, I could keep Rose as a huge factor and have her be more involved or I could keep that story idea for after but she would be left out (except for the odd chapter).... it's hard!!What do you guys think?! Wish me luck on this insane problem!!


	10. The Burning River To Hell

Danika's POV

The other end was like living in a flashback, I was here a long time ago and not too much has changed since then except for the shrine that was placed a few decades ago. Everyone was waiting and took cover out of sight before Jake came through.  
He looked around and snarled viciously, I acted as though my being brought here was an accident, which he stupidly bought.

"This is exactly where you belong, to be swept up and carried down to burn in the fires of Hell." HellFire. I was backed up to the edge of the river. I should have nothing to worry about, only evil spirits and creatures got caught up in the current,  
but I still felt a chill of fear throughout my body.

"Danika! Kill him!" I heard someone yell, I glanced over and saw a young man with black and green hair and wearing his signature red jacket. It was Jake's spirit.

"Kill him! Drown him in the river!" he ordered,

"I can't." I whispered, I knew it wasn't Jake in there but I still couldn't bring myself to kill him... not again.

""Trust me. Do it." he begged. I watched as Jake's body walked to the edge of the river next to me, he swiped at the swelling water and laughed as nothing happened. My eyes widened in shock, nothing? I could feel my plan unwravel at the seams.  
Our ears twitched at the sound of Trixie's gasp. Orision (a/n Jake's living body [for now]) turned towards the trees in which they were hiding and I turned to Jake's ghost, he looked at me helplessly as Orision turned to kill our friends.

All options closed, I used my tail and pounded on the unstable ground. The Earth collapsed beneath us and we fell into the rushing water. The water was as a brilliant blue but was very hot (hence the "Burning" river), if I wasn't heat resistant I would have been scalded and suffer 3rd degree burns on impact, the only way magical creatures could enter the river was if they used the small pond connected to the river at the base of the waterfall (which is where we wanted to be). I broke the surface and gasped for breath as I tried to cling to the bank.

Gramps and the others had abandoned their hiding spots and were at the side of the river

"Call for help!" Jake instructed me, he was standing right above me. I felt a sharp tug on my tail and I lost my hold,

"Help!" I yelped before I was dragged under. Under the surface was a completely different river, there were spirits swimming at the bottom and were reaching up to drag me down deeper. The river was at least 200 feet deep and the water turned to black sludge the deeper you went. I could hear the other dragons dive in (minus Trixie and Spud) but all I could see where the forest green eyes glowing in front of me where they were once a deep brown, almost black. I felt the heat in my chest rise again, I was reminded of when I felt this way a few days ago... when I wanted to kill Jake. This time I knew I had to, I couldn't sit back anymore.

I kicked him in the gut and started to swim upwards, I have to get him to the pond. I passed the others on my way up, why would I risk their lives by dragging them into this? I waved them out and they followed. I found a stable area where I could pull myself out of the raging waters, I couldn't fly out because my wings were still put out from the blow to the back I took earlier so I swam as fast as I could.

I heard Orision burst through the surface, the way I saw it the less he knew about Jake's abilities and strenghts the better chance I had of using that to my advantage, like for example, being able to take flight directly out of water.

"Feel free to contribute." I whispered to Jake who was standing beside me as I pulled my exhausted body from the burning river.  
He nodded and turned to Orision who was gliding through the water and climbed out behind me as I crept slowly up the slope to the pond.

I heard a monstrous sceam cut the air, I looked back and saw Orision crumple to the ground. I could tell Jake was trying to regain control as the pitch of the screams would change from being a normal tone to a demonic noise. Trixie and Spud flew up in their tricked out costume and started to assult him with fireballs and tail whips (Spud was obcessed with his magical tail). Orision rolled on the ground for a few minutes as I took a quick break on the side, it didn't take long for Jake to lose control over his body and he materialized next to me.

"Run!" he urged, I obediently stood up and trotted over to the pond. I could hear Orision stomping after me, I reached the pond in just a few minutes, OK, now how am I going to get him in? My question was soon answered.

He jumped on my back and I fell in face first, he held my head down under the water laughing at my weak attempts to resurface. Is this what Jake felt when he died? Was I to suffer the same fate as my partner? Suddenly, the pressure on my head lifted. I felt myself be pulled up, when I surface I found that I was no longer in my dragon form. Orision was floating lightly in the river but wasn't dead. I stared at him, was he playing some kind of game? No, he would have just finished me off. Jake was in the water looking down at the now unrecognizeable being that was once his body, he looked up at me and grinned.

"Do it, he can't hurt you anymore." his eyes sparkled happily, why would he be happy? I'm going to kill him and he's grinning like a lunatic!

I waded over to the whining beast, Gramps had walked into the pond with Sun, they joined me next to Orision who looked up at me sadly. Gramps stared at him pitifully, I placed my hands on the dragon's shoulders and pressed him down into the cool water.  
He started to struggle so Gramps and Sun helped me push him down further. Sun chocked back a sob as the body went limp, I tried to keep the tears from rolling down my face but was unsuccessful. The dragon reverted to its human form and started to struggle with a new energy.

"Let him up!" I croaked, we let go and the teenager sprang up to a kneeling position in the waist high water. He coughed violently before turning to me, a lopsided grin grew on his face and I gasped in shock as I realized that it was Jake.  
I jumped in excitement and hugged him eagerly, Trixie and Spud ran into the water. We all hugged Jake like a hundred times if not more, although I was relieved beyond belief I shook from the [extrememly] close call and I could not stop the tears from overflowing.

"We should go check the damage or something." Fu suggested, obviously trying to give us some space. I chuckled at the lack of a good 'reason' but was thankful all the same.

"I thought I was gonna lose you again." I sobbed into his shirt as he held me close and rubbed my back.

"Not this time. You did everything right, I'm proud of you." I looked at him oddly,

"You almost die and you're comforting me." I jeered, he sighed, dropped his hands and gave me an exasberated look.

"Fine. Make me feel better then." he laughed, I gave him a big bear hug. He returned the hug, buried his face in my neck and sighed deeply. I could soon feel his tears land softly on my skin. I stroked his hair lightly, rubbing his back soothingly.

We stood there for a good 5 minutes, I could feel my legs become numb in the cool, glassy water. Jake drew back composing himself, wiping away any leftover tears. I didn't really think dragons were allowed to cry... the strong ones anyway. But I guess we get scared too, I always thought that we grew out of getting scared after everything we have to go through... like Gramps. That crying or being unsure was a luxury we gave up with the job, maybe I'm wrong. He smiled sheepishly, embarassed at the 'unmanly' display of emotion,  
why do they care so much?

"We should go help them 'check the damage or something'." I winked, we turned to leave and he grabbed my hand as we exited the tiny pond. Fu greeted us with a gentle smile and motioned us towards the portal, I stopped. I haven't seen this place in centuries and I wanted to take another look at the river. Despite it's name, history, and purpose it was a beautiful place of renewal and cleansing.

"Just give me a minute, Fu." I said, letting go of Jake's hand. I walked towards the river where not 10 minutes ago I was fighting for my life. The water was beautiful, moreso when your looking at it from the side than when you're in it. my ankle was frozen where a spirit near the bottom grabbed it when it tried to pull me down, I shivered. The steam from the river felt good after being in the cool waters of the pond, which I found weird that they were both at different extremes in temperautre though they came from the same place. The trees and grass were lush and full of life, I was wrong about this place, when I was last here there were little trees and the grass was dead. The river was always blue but there use to be flames that sat on the surface and you could hear the cries of the dammed coming out of the hole in the Earth that led straight to Hell. All in all this was much better.

"It's time to leave now." I heard Jake from beside the portal, Gramps, Sun, Trixie and Spud had already crossed over so it was just us three. I looked at the spot where the ground had collapsed and realized that that's where we defeated Orision, where Jake had died. I pointed to the landmark and turned to Jake, he nodded and held out his hand. I looked at the river once more.  
I felt redeemed... as if this whole mess, this disaster, set it all straight. I felt proud but a little worried of a relapse, I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

When we got out of the portal, Gramps was waiting for us on the other side. Sun had left and brought Trixie home (they lived in the same neighborhood), I can't believe we have to fly home!

"I figured that we've all had a long day. I decided to call a cab instead of flying home." he smiled exhaustedly. My fatigue hit me in waves, I soon found myself at a curb in the Hamptons waiting for a cab. Spud was lying on the grass, talking to someone about constelations. I started to lean over under the weight of my own body, Jake was leaning against my shoulder which didn't help.

"Son of an itch!" I heard Spud 'curse'. I turned my head over to see what the fuss was about, Spud's orange long-sleeve was smeared in dog crap and he was furiously trying to wipe it off on the grass.

"Aww, Spuuuuud!" Jake whined. I didn't notice he had woken up, nor did I notice the cab waiting at the curb in front of me until Gramps started tugging at my elbow. The cab was very dirty, it smelled of cigarettes and cheap whiskey. We collectively decided that Spud would sit at the front with the unimpressed driver. The car didn't have any seatbelts and McDonald fries littered the floor,  
I quickly forgot about the state of the probably illegal cab as I started to fall asleep against the cool window. Jake was snoring softly against my shoulder, it wasn't even snoring as much as heavily breathing. The heat of the river lingered on our clothes and skin despite the cool 'dip' in the pond and the air temperature outside. 


	11. Morning after dark

Sorry this one took a while longer to post then I expected, this is pretty much a wrap-up. I thought it would be unfair for Johnathan if his son went to the hospital after a freaky episode thing, completely destroy a floor of a hospital, go missing, and he magically shows up perfectly fine a few days later.

Enjoy :D

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Jake's POV

I woke up in the spare room at Gramps' place with a huge headache. I opened my eyes but my vision was too blurry and out of focus to see anything. I could hear Trixie, Spud and Fu in the kitchen. I sat up, my head spun and my body ached, I felt like I was going to puke, but it went away as I lay back down.

"Ooooooh my God!" I groaned as I pulled the blanket over my head. I tried to fall back asleep then something fell on the bed next to me, I jumped but didn't say anything. I was scared of what it could be, I started to pull my knees up to my chest up felt a sharp ripple run through my entire body.

"You feel like getting up Emily Rose?" Fu joked as he shook me roughly. He pulled the covers off my head but I yanked them back up.

"C'mon, kid. You've been sleeping for three days now, I think it's time you got up." he protested,

"Three days? You've GOT to be joking!" I practicaly yelled as I threw the covers off my head, I sat up slowly, wincing at the now moderate body pain.

"Well, ya. I got you up though. Sore much?" he laughed, I nodded. I passed my hand through my hair, _it's really greasy, I should take a shower_. Fu reached over and grabbed my wrist roughly, turning it up to the light, the ugly, fresh cut looked angry and a bit infected.

"Jake-" Fu started slowly, shocked.

"Fu. I don't cut." I stated, staring into the dog's obsidian eyes. I pulled my wrist back gently, he kept staring at me quietly. I stood up and tried to stretch out the strain, _bad idea, nice try though._ I took inventory of what I was wearing, Navy sweat pants and a white Bon Jovi T-shirt. I walked over to the closet where we kept our extra clothes incase we need to change before going home or if we had to pull an all-nighter, _with school starting in a week we'll have to get some new school clothes to replace the worn out rags we use for dragon practice. _Needless to say, dragon training hasn't been to kind to our wardrobe, especially since most of what we wear is flammable.

I pulled on a grey long sleeve shirt and tugged the cuffs to hide my wrist.

"Don't tell Gramps, about my wrist. He doesn't need to worry about any of that right now." I turned to him and he gave me a nod, I could always count on Fu to keep a secret. I just need to make sure it stays a secret on my part.

"Mother Trucker!" Spud cursed, Trixie started laughing loudly. I opened the door wider and walked down the small hallway to the kitchen.

"Hey, guys" I greeted. Their heads snapped in my direction and I could see the exploded egg on Spud's face, _he put another egg in the microwave._

"Yo baby, how you feelin' ?" Trixie asked warmly, I smiled.

"I'm doin alright. Spud, you should get that egg of your face before you get salmonella poisoning or something." Spud gave me a puzzled look.

"Jake, it's egg not salmon." he corrected, Trixie rolled her eyes. I went to the apartment door that lead to the back room of G's shop, the shower was downstairs.

"I'm going in for a shower." I called, they nodded and went back to their 'cooking'. I walked downstairs and saw Grampa in the front room.

"Hey, Gramps" I peeked my head out the door frame, he put his finger over his mouth to shush me and pointed at Danika who was sleeping on the couch. I nodded comprehensively.

"Good morning, Jake. How are you feeling now?" he asked quietly, he seemed pretty happy today which was always good, we got less work.

"Pretty good. I'm just going in for a shower, cool?" He nodded and returned to his paper.

I stepped into the shower and immediately reached for the shampoo, the warm water helped relax my sore muscles but not by much. Dark bruises covered my body, not the small ones that you get when you fall off your skateboard but the big ugly ones that you get from landing on a railing after you fall off said skateboard... _or a bad fight with another dragon._

When I got out, I made sure that all marks were hidden,_ that won't last for too long_. Danika was still lying on the couch but was talking to Gramps, I walked in and she turned to me happily.

"Long night?" I asked, her hair was a mess and she was still wearing the clothes from yesterday. She nodded exhaustedly.

"Like wearing my clothes?" she asked slyly, I gave her a confused look and she tugged on her own shirt. I looked at the grey long sleeve,

"Oops, my bad." I apologized. I had to admit, I looked good, not that I would make a habit of wearing her clothes. She laughed.

"It's all good." she chuckled, normally I would have taken off the shirt and hand it over. I guess I liked to show off a bit which I think she found 'cute'. I wasn't willing on giving up my... **her** shirt just yet, which I think she picked up on but didn't say anything.

"We spoke to the Witches and they've created a spell so no one remembers ever seeing you in the past couple days except for us." Gramps informed me, _was that a good thing?_

"Why, what did I do?... Did I kill anyone?" I gasped. It's ironic that something designed to kill is completely revolted by the thought of taking another life. I never killed anyone that I know of... yet. Gramps and Danika exchanged glances.

"You don't remember anything?" She asked me surprised. I thought over the past few days but only came up with a couple of memories.

"No, not really." I shook my head while tugging nervously at the sleeves of my shirt. Gramps tossed me a newspaper and I saw the heading that read "Boy, 14, destroys Radiology wing at St. Mary's Hospital, injuring 9.". I angrily threw the newspaper on the small coffee table and flopped down on the couch, I ran my fingers through my hair.

"I thought you said no one remembers me." I accused, he shook his head slowly.

"They don't remember anymore. The spell was only set today." he explained.

"Did I do anything else?" I asked, scared of the answer. Scared that I did something irreversible but scared they didn't know what I did, which means that I could have done more than what I feared. They both shrugged,_ of course_. The cut on my wrist throbbed angrily, I tugged the shirt further over my wrist but I could never manage to pull the sleeve long enough, even if it reached my foot.

"Don't stretch it, you'll wreck it." Danika fussed, she reached over and tugged back on the sleeve revealing my ugly wound. She stared at it, gawking. I silently begged her not to say anything.

"Oops, sorry Jake. I _scratched_ you. Here, let's go clean that." she grabbed my wrist lightly and pulled me towards the bathroom. She closed the bathroom door behind us silently, before holding my wrist up towards the light above the mirror.

"What the hell is **that**?" she whispered loudly when she was sure no one could hear, she pulled out the dressing and alcohol. I shook my head, what was I suppose to say? _Oh, ya, that? well Orision and I were chatting and he decided to threaten me by taking a blade to my wrist._

"I-I... I didn't do it. Honestly I didn't, Danika." I sputtered, voice breaking as a bad taste burned the back of my throat. She nodded and started wrapping my wrist.

"Your mom will be soo happy to see you. She was so worried, you wouldn't believe." She changed the subject quickly, _I completely forgot!_

"What about dad?"

"He's gone on a business trip." she shrugged,_ I guess he doesn't remember seeing me after I got back._ She finished wrapping my wrist.

"Thanks" I inspected the wrappings, _Gramps isn't going to believe that she just scratched me. I've gone through worse without having anything bandaged,_ I could tell she was thinking the same thing._ At least it'll heal in a few days, a week or two at most for the scar to disappear._

"Hey, mom!" I called as I walked through the front door, she practically sprinted into the foyer and grabbed me so tight that it actually hurt. My bruises were protesting the contact and my entire body heated under the pressure, _I really wrecked myself up._ She fervently started kissing my face to which I started to blush and squirm away.

"Mooooom." I whined. She withdrew at my awkward disposition.

"A-are you OK? Where did you go? How are you feeling?..." She shot questions left and right, I couldn't tell when or if she ever paused to take a breath.

"I'm fine... now" I added, she dropped her grasp on my shoulder and turned to Gramps and Danika.

"Did you get him checked out?" She cautioned, _did I?_ I looked back curiously as the three nodded._ I don't remember anything since taking the cab home._

"Welcome back, Jacob." I turned to look at the top landing of the stairs, Aunt Cathy was walking down the wooden stairs slowly, uncertainly. _What is she doing here?_ I could see Greggy peeking from behind his mother. _Scared much?_

"Thanks" I replied curtly. It's not like I'm some kind of monster, though they didn't help. Cathy gave Greggy the A-OK and he re-adopted his bravado composure as he began to decend the stairs like the fearless dragon he was, too late for that. An awkward silence filled the house, I could hear whispering from the upstairs unit.

"JAKE!" I heard Haley holler from somewhere upstairs. She ran down the stairs, practically shoving our aunt to the side. Haley ran over and leaped up into my arms, I wasn't really expecting it so I fell back onto the hardwood, hissing in pain.

I got up and went to sit on the couch to relax a bit. Gregory didn't want much to do with me because I was mainly stealing his stage, I didn't really care though. Danika sat with me while Haley ran back upstairs to play with out cousing Anna who was a few years younger than she was.

"Awww, man! I'm wrecked." I exclaimed, everything hurt now. I sat rubbing my gut and side, I checked earlier and there was a huge bruise forming across my abdomen.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to kick you that hard." She appologized. I hiked up my shirt to take another look at the sore spot, fair enough it was starting to bruise a dark yellowish-green, _It's actually kinda cool._

"Damn, girl. I don't want to get you mad at me too often. That'll be good for school in case someone wants to have a go at the new kid." I joked.

Later that evening, I got ready for bed. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous since the last time I slept here. I layed on my bed and waited for myself to fall asleep, _this is going to be a loooong night._ I soon decided that I wouldn't get much sleep in my room tonight. Pillow and throw blanket in hand, I set out into the dark hallway.

I walked quietly up to the door as to alert no one else in the house. I tapped on the wooden door lightly, I heard movement in the other room.

"Ya?" I heard a soft voice call out from the other side, I opened the door swiftly, putting the right amount of pressure on the door so it would squeak less.

"It's just me. Mind if I bunk with you tonight?" I called into the darkness. The tiny lamp on the nightstand flicked on to reveal a very sleepy Haley, rubbing her eyes.

"Sure, Jake." she accepted groggily. I closed the door behind me, making my way to the vacant side of the bed slightly smaller than mine. She flicked off the light and quickly fell asleep, I realized that I actually missed Haley alot. Even though I was only gone for a day or so I was very homesick and missed my family. Haley turned over in her sleep, grabbing my arm which was probably mistaken for one of her thousands of stuffed animals, _it feels good to be home._ It wasn't long before I too fell asleep.

* * *

The end! Thanks soooo much for everyone who read and commented :D I'm a bit sad to see this story end but I'll be OK. I have someone who's going to Beta for me in the next chapter so it'll probably look better ;D I'll see you guys in a few weeks with a third story! I'm soo excited! This one's a bit of a leap for me but I think it'll turn out pretty cool with the extra help. :D

Ttyl! ~Imaginationroxmysox~ indeed :D


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